A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 98.7 million people worldwide and killed over 2.1 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Here's how the news developed this week. All times Eastern.
Jan 19, 2021, 5:48 AM EST
18 family members test positive after holiday party in Pennsylvania
One family's holiday gathering in Pennsylvania has turned out to be a superspreading event, according to a report by Philadelphia ABC station WPVI.
Darlene Reynolds, 55, said she woke up with a scratchy throat on Dec. 26, the day before relatives from as far as Canada were planning to come over for a holiday party at her home in the Milmont Park section of Ridley Township.
"I had no fever because I kept checking it," Reynolds told WPVI. "I said, 'I'll keep a distance since I have a tiny little cough.'"
One man is being treated in this hospital after 18 of his family members were infected with COVID-19 during a holiday gathering back on Dec., 2020 in Delaware County, Pa.
ABC News
Soon after the party, people started getting sick.
"We were sick, but we didn't know we had COVID. We could've had the flu, but it was scary," Reynolds told WPVI. "We got tested and we tested positive."
In total, 18 family members ranging in age from 1 to 62 contracted COVID-19. Reynolds said both her husband and their son were hospitalized.
Jan 19, 2021, 5:25 AM EST
Moderna vaccine lot flagged by California officials used at mass vaccination event
Just hours after California's top epidemiologist recommended pausing the use of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna's lot 041L20A due to "possible allergic reactions" that are under investigation, Mendocino County officials discovered that the batch in question was used at a mass vaccination event in San Diego.
"The county has reviewed the lot numbers administered through our mass vaccination clinics as well as the inventory stored in our freezer. Upon further review, we are confirming that 100 doses of Mendocino County Public Health's Moderna vaccine associated with the batch the state is concerned with were used at a vaccination event at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds on January 7th," Mendocino County vaccine coordinator Adrienne Thompson said in a statement Monday night.
A health care worker receives a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, California, on Dec. 22, 2020.
Bing Guan/Reuters
According to Thompson, all 100 doses were administered at the event and comprised a separate order from the state. No adverse reactions occurred.
"County staff will be contacting all 100 individuals that received a vaccine with this lot number to alert them of the recall," Thompson said. "No other side effects have been noted from use of this vaccine."
Mendocino County's public health officer, Dr. Andrew Coren, said events such as this are not unexpected because these are new vaccines, and it should not deter the public from getting vaccinated.
"This isolated event has not increased the percentage of vaccine reactions, which continue to be about one person in 100,000," Coren said in a statement Monday night. "Getting vaccinated continues to be the best way for all of us to help move beyond this virus and return to a normal way of life."
Jan 19, 2021, 4:17 AM EST
US reports over 137,000 new cases
There were 137,885 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the United States on Monday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
It's the lowest daily case count that the country has seen since Dec. 25. Monday's tally is also far less than the country's all-time high of 302,506 newly confirmed infections on Jan. 2, Johns Hopkins data shows.
An additional 1,382 fatalities from COVID-19 were registered nationwide on Monday, down from a peak of 4,462 new deaths on Jan. 12, according to Johns Hopkins data.
COVID-19 data may be skewed due to possible lags in reporting over the holiday weekend and earlier holidays.
A motorist wearing a face mask is reflected in the side view mirror of his vehicle while he gets blood drawn at the Southside Church of Christ in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 18, 2021, where free rapid COVID-19 antibody and PCR tests are being administered to local residents in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Ringo Chiu/AFP via Getty Images
A total of 24,078,773 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 399,003 have died, according to Johns Hopkins data. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.
Much of the country was under lockdown by the end of March as the first wave of pandemic hit. By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country's cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up over the summer.
The numbers lingered around 40,000 to 50,000 from mid-August through early October before surging again to record levels, crossing 100,000 for the first time on Nov. 4, then reaching 200,000 on Nov. 27 before topping 300,000 on Jan. 2.
Jan 18, 2021, 8:47 PM EST
Pfizer says it can't sell vaccines directly to New York
Hours after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to Pfizer asking if the state could purchase its vaccine directly, the pharmaceutical giant said it needs federal approval to do so.
A representative said at this time it cannot sell the vaccine directly to states and would need approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to meet Cuomo's request.
"Pfizer is open to collaborating with HHS on a distribution model that gives as many Americans as possible access to our vaccine as quickly as possible," the company said in a statement Monday.
